The present invention relates to a system for the diagnosis and/or for the parameterization of devices forming sensors, actuators or controls and connected to a bus system, with device parameters being able to be read out of the device and/or being able to be transmitted into the device and device parameters read out and/or to be transmitted being able to be displayed visually by a display unit using said system.
Systems in the form of PC-based programs (engineering tools) are usually used in automation engineering for the diagnosis and/or parameterization of field devices. These systems communicate with the respective device via a pre-determined, usually standardized communication technology (serial interface, Ethernet, PROFIBUS, etc.) and make a user-friendly graphical visualization available at the display unit, usually at the monitor directly connected to the PC, which is as a rule not possible at the device itself. This visualization represents parameters read out from the device, for example, in graphical, tabular or numerical form at the monitor and, optionally, makes entry screens available via which the corresponding device parameters can be entered and transmitted to the respective device for the parameterization.
If the visualization should not take place in the direct proximity of the field device, since the operator is, for example, a long way away from the field device, it is, for instance, also possible to control the field devices via web accesses by means of HTTP (on an Ethernet or another carrier technology). For this purpose, it is necessary for the data server to be arranged in direct proximity to the field device and to be connected to it, for example, via a local interface, whereas the web accesses via HTTP can be carried out by a remotely disposed client.
It is a problem with the previously known solutions that a number of different systems admittedly exist which can each be used for different application scenarios, but that these different systems do not have any common architecture. This results in the known systems presenting themselves to the user in different visualization and operation concepts in dependence on the application scenario. The user must thus frequently accustom himself completely from the start to the respectively used system, whereby the probability of operator errors is increased. Furthermore, version conflicts frequently arise between the device software and the parameterization software since these are usually developed independently of one another and version releases in the software modules used are frequently not taken into account on a change in the application scenario. Finally, a parameterization is normally only possible locally at the field device without a technical bridge, for example via the connection of a laptop, or at most only to the extent that the bus system extends in the system used.